Options Trading News

Traders are looking for daylight in LDK Solar as it emerges from a multi-month slide.

More than 2,000 January 1 calls traded in a strong buying pattern for an average price of $0.39 on Friday, according to optionMONSTER's Heat Seeker tracking system. The volume was above the previous open interest of 1,647, indicating new activity.

LDK rose 10.66 percent on Friday, or $0.13, to end the week at $1.35. The Chinese solar-panel maker hit a 52-week high near $7 in February but then began a steady decline that took it all the way to $0.71 in mid-October.

Shares have nearly doubled in price since then, rising above their 50- and 100-day moving averages along the way, as the beaten-down sector attempts a comeback. Solar-energy companies have risen more than 28 percent on average in the last month, making them the best-performing group on researchLAB in that time.

The long calls, which lock in the price where traders can buy stock, will track the share price closely because they are already in the money. They are looking for LDK to gain roughly 3 percent or more in less than three weeks but will expire worthless if the stock doesn't move.

The trades pushed total option volume in the name to 3,567 contracts on Friday, more than 5 times its daily average in the last month. Calls outnumbered puts by 6 to 1.

optionMONSTER® provides stock market insight, advanced options education, and actionable trade ideas to meet the needs of do-it-yourself investors. After spending decades in the trading pits of Chicago, Jon 'DRJ' and Pete Najarian founded the company in 2005 to help people better manage their own investment portfolios.